U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,539,778; 6,840,088; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,281,880 are directed to pumping skids that are connected to a subsea vehicle (SV) to carry out pipeline commissioning methods. By their design, the pumping skids are attached to the underside of the SV and require the SV to power the pumps on the skid. When commissioning a pipeline, the skid and SV act as a single unit.
The present invention employs an independent Universal Pumping Platform that has its own power supply provided by an umbilical from a vessel to an electric motor that drives a hydraulic pump for producing high pressure hydraulic fluid. This hydraulic fluid is then used to power one or more pumps depending on the specific commissioning operation. The UPP is independent, structurally or for a source of power, of any SV or ROV used in the commissioning operations.